ayame's flower realm . JUJUTSU KAISEN

twenty one . interrogation?

"here you go."

ayame handed a cup of bubble tea to megumi, who accepted it gratefullly. she sat down next to him, and sipped on her drink. her eyes observed the park filled with few people and a couple of students wearing the same uniform as megumi in silence.

"why... did you come here? do you need anything?" megumi asked, before narrowing his eyes. "did gojou-san send you here?"

"huh? why would gojou-sensei send me here...? i came here to see you."

"...eh?"

if this was a shoujo manga, there would definitely be flowers and sparkles flying around as ayame said those words. honestly, megumi was caught off guard, as he didn't expect for her to actually come here voluntarily. he cleared his throat.

"then wha - "

"woah, that dog is wearing clothes."

...

"...sorry. you were saying?"

megumi sighed.

"why did you come here, then? there must've been a reason. also..." megumi motioned towards her cheek. "you're hurt. did you just come back from a mission?"

growing conscious of her bandage, ayame touched it out of reflex to cover it. "uh, yeah... just a scratch. you sure have good eyes." ayame then turned away from him, and leaned on the bench. "i had a mission earlier in the area, and thought i'd stop by."

"but why? we barely know each other." megumi said, a frown on his face, deeper than his usual ones.

ayame waved her finger in front of his face with a smug smile. "tsk, tsk. that is wrong, fushiguro megumi. in two years or so, i will be your senior at jujutsu high... so technically, i'm your senior."

"i'm not even a student there yet."

"fine, fine. i came here to ask something. something that's been bugging me."

"and that is?"

it was time to test her observational skills.

"the last time we met... you looked like you were out of it."

megumi sipped on his drink. "and when was that?"

"ah, y'know... when we bumped into each other in the city - i was with someone else, too. remember takayuki-senpai?"

"ah. him. yes, i do remember him. takayuki yasuhiro-san."

'damn, this kid remembers his full name.' ayame coughed away her surprised expression. "right. and you didn't look too well. i've been wondering why."

no reply came after that, which caused ayame to lift up her head. she was met with megumi's side profile, his eyes staring ahead of him in silence. she blinked, as the atmosphere grew heavy and the only thing filling the silence was the sound of children running around and idle chatter in the background.

a breeze greeted them, and ayame watched as megumi's black hair brushed against his skin.

she furrowed her brows. was it something serious, to the point where he was hesitating? that, or it was because he thought she was an outsider who was prying her hands into his business to deeply. ah, now that she thought about it, she was being nosy and what the hell i should stop staring -

cutting through the silence, ayame blurted out,"uh, how did you know about gojou-sensei...?"

megumi finally lifted up his eyes towards ayame's own, and she sighed inwardly when his eyes slightly lighten up at the change of subject. he adjusted his grip on his drink.

"...choose."

"huh?"

"i'll only answer one of your questions. please choose."

a.

at the demand, ayame sink into her seat, and rubbed her chin as she thought carefully.

'it's either what's wrong with him, or what's the connection between him and gojou-sensei.' ayame hummed. 'if i ask him what's wrong, maybe i could help - no, wait, isn't that too arrogant of me...? - but if i ask him about gojou-sensei...'

...

oh.

'i got it.'

"then, tell me what's wrong with you that day."

'i'll just ask gojou-sensei about him. (lol)'

at the choice, megumi pressed his lips into a thin line. well, there's no helping it. if that's what ayame had chosen, then he couldn't really complain. he was the one who asked, anyways.

part of him wished she asked about gojou instead, but... maybe it was good to let her know as well.

maybe she could help.

megumi began, "that day, i..."

"wait!"

megumi glanced at ayame - well, at her hand that was in front of his face. he blinked, before tilting his head, looking directly at the older girl.

"are you... uh, are you sure...?"

shxt. why the hell is she having second thoughts? this was the reason she came over! all she's doing right now is waste her time and it's only a matter of time that nitta calls her and give her an earful -

"well, yeah." he answered, taking a sip of a drink without much care in the world. "anyways, that day,"

ayame listened to him with mouth agape, taken aback by how chill he was with the situation.

the whole time, she was silent as megumi told her about how tsumiki, his older sister, had fallen into a coma a few months ago. he had been trying to find a solution to her state day and night, trying to wake her up from the deep slumber she was trapped in. but the problem was that it wasn't a normal sickness.

tsumiki had been inflicted by a curse.

a curse that affected her mind directly, causing her to sleep, similar to that of a breathing corpse.

heheh i tried to make a fake cover ^^

anyways, i'm currently in a block right now (if you couldn't tell from this chapter...) and combined with real life and stuff... yeah

but despite having writer's block, my drawing side is still doing okay 👍

thank you for reading!